Uncle Dan

September 2, 2010

We have a new love affair of sorts brewing…Lorelei is utterly, devastatingly, head-over-heels smitten with her Uncle Dan.

We first noticed it at Matthew’s baptism at the end of July, when Lorelei was doling out smiles very sparingly, even to her doting parents. But when Dan held her, it was as if she’d reached the promised land.

Yesterday, she had her first course of vaccinations – three shots in her tiny baby thighs, plus one vaccine that was administered orally in a sugary solution. She eagerly sucked down the sugar water (the nurse noted that few babies take to it quite so readily; we should probably get ready to break her of a stubborn Juicy Juice habit in coming years), but the shots were predictably traumatic and painful for all concerned.

She rallied relatively quickly, however – particularly when we arrived in Gilford and Uncle Dan came on the scene. The smiles, the cooing, the coy glances. I swear I even saw her bat an eyelash or two. Any lingering trauma from the doctor’s office just melted away. It was really quite something. Lorelei’s sole Dan-related complaint seems to be that he insists on spending a lot of time with that other baby, the big boy one.

Matthew, alas, is completely immune to my charms. This past Sunday, he burst into tears when I tried to hold him. Yesterday, I kept my distance, but he kept shooting me suspicious glances. I don’t know if he objects to me personally, the fact that I’m associated with that other baby who keeps trying to woo away his dad, or both. I’m not too worried just yet – if he still dislikes me by the time he can articulate his reasons, I’ll be a little concerned – but Dan clearly got in on the ground floor with Lorelei.